Reaction to David Walker’s Appointment as Barclays Chairman

Reporters Matt Turner and Richard Partington, from Financial News / efinancialnews.com, have taken a look at the move by Barclays to appoint City veteran David Walker as its new chairman.

ZUMAPRESS.com

David Walker, the new Barclays Chairman.

Barclays’s appointment of the veteran banker David Walker as its new chairman has been welcomed as “the beginning of the end of the period of uncertainty” — however, analysts have debated whether he will be “truly independent for shareholders” given his strong connections with the political establishment.

The U.K. bank confirmed late Thursday that Mr. Walker, a former chairman of Morgan Stanley International, would join as a nonexecutive director on Sept. 1 and replace Marcus Agius as its new chairman on Nov. 1.

John Sunderland, who led the process to appoint a successor to Mr. Agius, said in a statement:

“Sir David commands great respect within the financial services industry and will bring immense experience, integrity and knowledge to the role.”